Clinton Wins Texas, Ohio, R.I.; McCain Seals GOP Nod

(AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton scored comeback primary wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island Tuesday night, denting Barack Obama’s delegate lead in a riveting Democratic presidential race. Arizona Sen. John McCain, an unflinching supporter of the war in Iraq, clinched the Republican nomination.

Clinton’s three triumphs ended a month of defeats for the former first lady, and she told jubilant supporters, “We’re going on, we’re going strong and we’re going all the way.”

Obama won the Vermont primary, and sought to counter Clinton’s claims that the night had been a race-altering event. “We have nearly the same delegate lead as we did this morning and we are on our way to winning this nomination,” he told supporters in Texas.

The two rivals also competed for support in caucuses in Texas that began 15 minutes after the state’s primary polls closed.

Both Democrats called McCain – a Senate colleague – to congratulate him on his triumph in the Republican race.

The 71-year-old Arizona senator surpassed the 1,191 delegates needed to win his party’s nomination, completing a remarkable comeback that began in the snows of New Hampshire eight weeks ago. President Bush invited him to lunch – and an endorsement – at the White House on Wednesday.

“We are in Iraq, and our most vital security interests are involved there,” said McCain at a victory celebration nearly a decade in the making.

McCain’s last remaining major rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, conceded defeat after a campaign that included a stunning victory in the leadoff Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. “My commitment to him and the party is to do everything possible to unite our party, but more important to unite our country so that we can be the best we can be,” Huckabee said in Irving, Texas.